Cuesta College

What area are you from and are you dad or player?  Post and profile have different info.

My son visited with Cuesta when he was a Junior in High School.  

Pretty consistent program I think.  If your son can get his grades together they do move some kids on, a couple to Cal Poly which is an excellent school and baseball program.  

Hard to find a better place to go to school or play baseball.  Perfect weather, a few miles from the beach, not over populated (although expensive to live).  One thing they are looking for there (based on the name I am assuming he is a pitcher) is a pound the zone approach.  Three on or out is kind of the approach, at least it was a couple of years ago.

I went to a few games and I didn't see any Cuesta pitchers over mid 80s, but, they pounded zone.  Of course at the 2 year school level the player turnover is constant.  

Beautiful town and a great atmosphere for what that is worth.  

Good school and great location to live. Leftside hit on living conditions and it does tend to feed students in the CalPoly. Generally a very competitive program. Getting to/from is a big issue if you are coming from out of the state since the major airports are in LA or SF which are both 3-4 hours away.(in good traffic) SLO does have some regional connections, but I imagine it is not that convenient plus costly. Probably is the same issue travelling to/from games since it is so far from competitive schools. 

 

SLO is about as good as it gets as far as a small college town, probably the best place in California for a small college town environment connected to a quality school. 

 

I love really SLO and it's on the short list of towns we may retire too.  But I don't agree with the use of the term "best" for Cuesta. There are a lot of other good options. For example, Cabrillo College in Aptos, CA, has a very solid, highly ranked baseball program in a similarly beautiful place that is closer to a major airport (SFO). Though the school  is not adjacent to a major baseball school (which is in some ways an advantage, as JC's in university towns like SLO or SB can get a bad rep as party schools) it does very well in placing kids at the next level, particularly at UC Davis.

CA JC programs rise and fall ever year.  Cuesta plays in a good league that gets lots of SoCal scout coverage and historically has seemed to move a lot of players onto the next level.   I don't know much about the league Cabrillo is in, but in NorCal the "Big 8" league probably gets the best scout coverage year in and year out. 

 

As a JC player I feel you should look for PT in a competitive league with a coach that works for you.  You don't have to play on the best team, you just need to play great against them

 

btw, Don't assume that playing at Cuesta will help get your son into the CalPoly program.  A few years ago Virginia Tech had more Cuesta players then CalPoly. 

Very true about  Big 8.

 

 

Cuesta is in my neck of the woods.  I was just there Saturday watching a fall DH between two JC's (Cuesta and MPC), both with players I have coached.  I can provide a good deal of info, pros and cons via pm if you wish.  But it would be nice if you at least acknowledged my question.

 

Lots of good info so far, although the Poly factor is a non-factor for a student with very poor grades - not an easy school to get into.  Over the last six or eight years, Cuesta typically gets between 70-95 players show up in the fall.  This is one of the few California JC's that get more than just a few players from outside of the immediate area.  Usually very competitive, although due to some unusual circumstances, had a few under-performing years lately.

 

I think I saw a post from you/son ?? about being at 80-82 in June?  If he is still sitting there, he won't necessarily be a lock to make the squad.  HC is very much a pitcher guy and there will be development there. 

 

Also, something to consider... depending on what type of struggles there are academically, you may take a look at the small school D3/NAIA options.  Many of these schools with small class sizes allow for such kids to flourish in school.  Going the California JC route, this will probably not be the case (class size/professor support) and he will have to navigate additional hurdles such as maintaining proper transferable class load to move on to a 4-year school without spending an extra semester (or two).  In the past, Cuesta has been fairly tough in regards to requiring baseball-related classes which makes it even more difficult to add in the proper number of basic academic courses.  And, while JC route is rightfully suggested for those who don't have the high grades to get into certain schools, you still have to pass your classes to maintain eligibility to play.

 

Feel free to PM me with any questions or if you want more detail. 

Head coach purchased a bunch of the Driveline weighted ball things. So if you don't like that, you probably won't like it there.

 

I hear good things about the place besides that, of course. It's very competitive like many of the other top California JCs.

Oh geez, they believe in weighted balls. Cross them off the list. kidding 

I grew up in SLO.

Its a party town for college kids....but every town with more than 10 college kids is probably a party town.  That just all comes down to personal taste.  

Good info with the school getting involved in the Driveline stuff.  Shows an open mind and they may actually (holding breath) try to develop players there.  Crazy idea.  

@cabbagedad i have two sons, one whos a 2016 and one whos a 2017. 2017 and i both use this account. he set it up and then when he told me about it i started using it also. 2017 is 80-83, but 2016 sits 87-89.

 

sorry for the confusion.

Ahhh, makes much more sense now, thanks.  If you are interested in more info, just send me a PM.

I agree with this, but every college is a party town if wanted. I managed to make it our of there with a engineering degree...

 

Trinity has been doing weighted balls for years and consistently has one of the hardest throwing staff's in D3 ball. Stop it Kyle, your ruining one of their advantages. 

Dont know about school, but i would get him help w academics while hes still in HS Unless hes very good and gets drafted out of juco u dont want his grades to keep him from going to a good college after his 2 yrs there. Many kids need help learning to study, and with test taking strategies. Getting to a D1 school is great, but its very diff to play at that level and be strong in academics. Requires a lot of  hard work, good luck